Pure and Purer
by CompletelyCrucial
Summary: In the encounter at Godric's Hollow - James dies, taking Voldermort with him. Lily still survives with Harry. Hopefully a believable and logical plot and storyline. Haitus.
1. Prologue

_A/N: Hello there everyone! Greetings from CC! Well - I've read many a fanfiction - but this is my first attempt at writing one. I really hope that it will turn out to be good. I know the prologue is short -but I promise you the rest won't be. I've got quite a bit planned and I really hope that you guys will appreciate my attempt. Criticism is appreciated. Hope you like it!_

**Prologue**

The cloudy night sky was a symbol of the many things that were to come. The dark grey skies had persisted for the better part of the day – and now, the approach of night only made it even more so. Grey faded into black and lightning and thunder flashed. The fact that it was Halloween did nothing to ease the morose atmosphere. In the little village of Godric's Hollow, children dressed in all kinds of costumes hurried from door-to-door, anxious to finish the trick or treating before the rain poured.

Down the main street, at a humble cottage that seemed invisible to everyone (none of the children were visiting the house for trick-or-treating), a tall man with a silver beard and hair that reached to his waist, stepped out the door and onto the porch. Dressed in a long purple cloak with half-moon spectacles and high-heeled, buckled boots, anyone who saw him would immediately assume him to be trick-or-treating himself. But, when he spoke, his voice was laced with concern and solemnity.

"I am truly serious, James. The portkeys that I gave both you and Lily will transport either of you to my office at any moment should you need it. I have an unpleasant sentiment about tonight."

"Not to worry, Dumbledore! I'm sure it's nothing – Peter paid us a visit just today – the secret's still safe." James replied, smiling while his wife, Lily Potter draped an arm about his waist.

"Yes, Dumbledore. James is right. You've got nothing to worry about."

"I hope that you both are right. Anyhow, I must be off now – the Halloween feast must already have begun at Hogwarts."

"Of course! Wish we could be there too!" said James.

"Thank you, Dumbledore! Take care." Lily said waving as Albus Dumbledore walked serenely along the path to the gate. As soon as he stepped out of the gate, he twirled on the spot – and vanished.

**o…o.O.o…o**

"Lily, take Harry and go! It's him! GO! RUN! I'll hold him off…." James yelled; the door blew to pieces and jets of light bounced off the walls as James took aim while running up the stairs, Lily two steps ahead of him. A tall figure dressed in a cloak with a hood that shrouded his face, appeared, a brilliant blue shield in front of him, deflecting all the curses.

"I love you Lily Potter!" James yelled as he ran back down the stairs, his face determined with his own shield in front of him.

"NO! JAMES!" Lily screamed – halting in her steps.

"Take Harry and get to Dumbedore, Lily!" James yelled, his face contorted as he shot and deflected curse after curse.

Tears streaming down her face, Lily Potter ran to her child's room and lifting the baby from the cot, activated her portkey. A sensation of a hook being jerked behind her navel gripped her and in a whirlwind of colours, she slammed down onto a hard wooden floor. Scrambling to her feet and wiping her eyes as a harried looking Dumbledore swam into focus into her eyes, she fainted.

Dumbledore rushed to her side, the baby already levitated to a simple cot that had appeared out of nowhere. He held her up - and pointing his wand at her heart, muttered, "_Rennervate"_.

"Dumbledore! James – Voldermort…"

"Fawkes!" Dumbledore said, and disappeared in a flash of light – his face a mask of cold fury.

**o…o.O.o…o**

Even as Dumbledore appeared, he felt no traces of life within the cottage. The cottage was in shambles. Pieces of furniture littered the floor and parts of the roof had caved in - leaving Dumbledore's path to the front door corridor blocked. Waving his wand at the debris, he cleared it up carefully so as not to bring the whole cottage down on him. Levitating aside the last of the debris, he rushed into the corridor near the door. Just as he stepped into the corridor, his heart caught in his chest. Lying on the floor, his eyes wide open and unblinking, sweat still glistening on his face, was James Potter. A few feet away, the glint of a sword caught Dumbledore's eye. Deeply embedded in the chest of Lord Voldermort was the Sword of Godric Gryffindor.


	2. Chapter 1  Cores and Toads

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters. They're all property of JKR and I'm just fooling around with them.

_A/N: Well – here it is, the first chapter. Ok – Ok… I know it's not in the least bit fast paced. And there's not even a hint of the plot yet – but I need them to be at Hogwarts for the real story to begin and this is just setting the background. I promise the next chapter will be waaay better and hopefully longer. I apologize for the long wait between the Prologue and this Chapter – but I was caught up in the end of term exams and such. Please review! I'm yet to receive a single one – and even a flame would be of much appreciation. Many thanks to the people who considered my story to be of worth enough to be added to their alerts! Hope you like it!_

**Chapter 1 – Cores and Toads**

Peeling gold letters over the door read "_Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C._" A single wand lay on a faded purple cushion in the dusty window. Harry looked up at his Mum with a look of apprehension. This was supposed to be the place where people bought wands? It seemed to Harry that there was nothing fine looking about the place at all. But with a smile and nod from his Mum, they both went in, Harry pushing the door open first. A tinkling bell sounded somewhere in the depths of the shop.

Glancing at the neatly stacked piles of boxes of wands on the floor which seemed to reach the ceiling, Harry was stunned. He was supposed to find a wand from all this? And there seemed to be more and more boxes towards the inner depths of the shop. As his Mum sat on the single spindly chair, he also noticed that the shop was very dusty. But then again it could be because they were early. Hogwarts wouldn't start for another two weeks – and according to his Mum, most people came to Diagon Alley on the last few days.

An old man suddenly appeared from the darkness – his pale eyes shining through the gloom, and nodding at Lily, said "Good morning."

"Ah… Young Harry. I was anticipating your arrival sooner or later. And Lily - ten and a quarter inches long, swishy, made of willow – in good order I presume?"

Mr. Ollivander seemed to be quite a strange man – even his eyes were strange; he didn't appear to be blinking.

"Of course, Mr. Ollivander. We thought of getting his school supplies early – to avoid the rush you know?"

"Perfectly understood, Lily. Now, Harry – let's have you measured now shall we?"

"Ermm… Okay."

Mr. Ollivander proceeded to pull out a tape measure with silver markings and instructing harry to hold out his arms measured him from shoulder to finger, then wrist to elbow, shoulder to floor, knee to armpit and round his head.

"Mr. Ollivander?" Harry asked timidly.

"Yes, Harry?"

"I was reading a book on wand lore – and never came across any reference for wands with more than a single core. Why is it so? I mean can't you use combinations of cores to strengthen the spells used? I've heard of people using two wands at the same time in duels – but wouldn't it be more efficient to have two cores in the same wand?"

Mr. Ollivander stared at him surprised, while the tape measure continued to measure him by itself. "You ask an interesting question, young man. It's true that it ought to strengthen the spells," he said while rummaging in the piles of boxes behind him. "But at the same time – you would also need to have both cores accept you. For you see, the wand chooses the wizard. And essentially the core has to choose the user. And with two cores – one would run into a problem. If one could find two wands that choose him – he could use both – but taking apart the cores to fuse them into one wand might prove disastrous, for the cores themselves might not agree with each other."

While talking, Mr. Ollivander had placed wand after wand in Harry's hands and kept taking them all away the moment they touched his hand. According to what his Mum had said – it had been the same for her until one wand had sparked in her hands.

"So – what you're saying is that it's nearly impossible to combine two cores in a fully functional wand, is it Mr. Ollivander?" Lily asked, grinning at Harry.

Harry glared in defiance and stuck his tongue out. He and his Mom often argued about such things – and this was actually a repeat (or rather a continuation) of one such argument. His mother was an Unspeakable at the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry of Magic and as an expert on Charms – was researching all varieties of things. Although it was forbidden of her to speak of what she got up to at work – her current field of interest was always of interest to Harry – he had actually learned quite a lot in this way.

"Absolutely, although I hear that the Russian wandmaker, Bogdan, has produced quite a few wands with Veela hair and powdered vampire fangs. I am not wholly sure that the powdered fang falls in to the category of "cores"…" he trailed off.

"I wonder… Worth a try…" he said. "Unusual combination — holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple."

Saying so, he rather gently handed Harry the wand. As soon as Harry touched the wand – he felt sudden warmth spread through his body. Waving it at once made beautiful red and gold sparks to shower out of the tip of the wand. The wand itself was rather beautiful. The handle fit perfectly in his hand at he felt quite at ease gripping it.

"Curious… Quite curious…" Mr. Ollivander whispered, his eyes quite glassy.

"What's so curious Mr. Ollivander?" Lily asked, clearly intrigued. Harry had to admit – if Mr. Ollivander was acting – he was quite persuasive.

"My dear child – it so happens that the same phoenix that gave me a tail feather for the wand Harry now holds, also gave one other tail feather. That feather, I am sorry to say, ended up in the wand of the one who is responsible for James's death."

Lily paled. Harry caught her hand and she squeezed it. True – he didn't remember his father – but his mother did and all the times they had spoken of him made it feel to Harry that he too had known him. He knew that his Mum had been surprised only because she had not been expecting him to be mentioned – and certainly not in such a manner.

"Mr. Ollivander?"

"Yes, Harry?"

"Is there anything special about wands with twin cores? I really can't remember reading about it anywhere."

"Well, that would be because it is a rare condition – and an even rarer one for people possessing wands with twin cores to meet each other. But there is one major consequence of having twin cores. The wands, when used against each other would be ineffective. If a spell from each wand were to collide, _Priori Incantatem _effect would take place."

Harry's eyes widened.

"So basically, Harry's wand would be powerless against Voldermort's?" Lily inquired – visibly less shaken now.

"I assume so. But we have nothing to worry about such things with him gone!"

After a bit more of talking – Harry and his mother left the wand shop – Harry having insisted on buying a wrist holster for his wand.

"Mum," Harry said – looking around to make sure no one was listening and speaking in a low voice. "Does this mean –"

"I'm afraid it does Harry. We'll just have to talk with Professor Dumbledore about this."

The Prophecy that had been made long before Harry was even born had been told to Harry on his tenth birthday – his Mom deciding that it would be better if he knew about it sometime before starting school. Harry had been upset to hear the Prophecy and even more upset when he learnt that Professor Dumbledore assumed that James's death was Voldermort's marking of Harry as the Chosen One. Since he had clearly marked Harry instead of Neville – Harry would one day have to face him. But – as his mother had pointed out – it didn't necessarily have to be on his own – the Prophecy only mentioned that he would be the one to get rid of him.

He had perked up at this – although Dumbledore had refrained from telling both Harry and his mother how Voldermort could have survived Gryffindor's Sword, they had both researched this intensively and had turned up with a few possibilities.

"Okay. Sure. But now can we go get my pocket money for the school term? Please?" Harry begged his Mom.

"Alright. I've got a surprise for you anyway."

**o…o.O.o…o**

The surprise had turned out to be in the form of a Gringotts Vault. It only contained a hundred galleons – but still – he considered it to be quite the surprise. Especially since now he would be able to request for money when he needed it from his vault through owl post.

Flashes of trees and lakes and the general countryside passed by the window as Harry loaded his trunk into the last available compartment. His mother had not let him go until the last moment, triple checking to make sure that he had everything he needed and that Hedwig was properly secured as well as giving him a tearful goodbye – making him promise to write at least once a week. Harry had to admit that he too was feeling tearful as he left his Mom for the longest time in his life. Sure –he had visited the Longbottoms – but that was only for a maximum of about a week. And even then his mother had dropped in at times. Having gone to a Muggle Primary day-school had also been of no assistance in training him for this purpose.

Ensuring that Hedwig's cage was in place by fixing it with a firm Sticking Charm onto the seat next to him, he opened the compartment door, intent on finding Neville. Just as he was stepping out – he nearly bumped into a lanky boy with red-hair and freckles.

"Erm – do you think that I could join you in your compartment? Everywhere else is full."

"Sure," Harry said smiling, helping him to load his trunk into the luggage rack. Sitting down on the seat opposite to Harry, he introduced himself as Ron Weasely.

Harry introduced himself and he noticed with indifference that the boy's eyes widened at the mention of the name Potter. The entire Wizarding World praised his Dad for what he had done – but no one seemed to notice that both his Mom and Harry were grieved by the loss. But he had also heard of the Weaselys from his Mom, she having dealt with Mr. Weasely at the Ministry. According to her, they were a nice sort.

They chatted a while about general things and some Quidditch until Harry decided that he couldn't put off looking for Neville any longer. Asking Ron whether he would like to accompany him, Harry left the compartment as Ron had apparently wanted to remain there for reasons unknown. It was all good for Harry as he strolled down the corridor, noticing that this carriage seemed to consist mostly of first years – but Neville was not to be found. A few carriages forward and Harry saw Neville with a bushy-haired girl who was apparently helping him with something.

"Hey Neville!"

"Hey Harry!"

"Where've you been? I've been looking all over the train for you!"

Neville appeared flustered. "Well, you see – Hermione here was helping me look for Trevor. I lost him the moment I got on – you know how he is!"

"Nice to meet you, Hermione – I'm Harry. Thanks for helping Neville find Trevor, he's always like that. I'm quite sure that Trevor does it on purpose – because he always appears the moment he's hungry."

"Hi, Harry! You're welcome – but we still haven't been able to find Trevor! And I'm afraid he would get trodden on or something. On the other hand – you both don't appear very worried."

"Hermione – Trevor's no ordinary toad – he's Neville's familiar and as such, he's intelligent enough to not get trodden." Neville explained. "I've been trying to tell you all this while – but, um… You were quite direct on your mission of finding Trevor, so I just thought I'd let you get on with it. Sorry!"

Hermione flushed red. "I guess I was a bit bossy – wasn't I? Anyways – we ought to find a compartment for ourselves." It was then that Harry noticed that they both had their trunks behind them. Informing them that he had found a carriage for them, he led them to the last compartment, and helped them with their trunks – introducing them to Ron first of course.

**o…o.O.o…o**

The four first-years had been animatedly discussing Quidditch (at least the boys were),munching on the sweets they had purchased from the trolley, when they noticed that it was getting darker and that they were probably close to Hogwarts. No sooner had they entertained this possibility, did a magically enhanced voice ring throughout the train.

"We will be approaching Hogsmeade Train Station within a few minutes. Please leave your luggage in the train – it will be taken to school separately."

They changed into their robes in the compartment and waited outside while Hermione changed. When the train began slowing down, they pulled their trunks down from the luggage racks and got off the train. A loud voice was calling out "Firs' years! Firs' years over here!" and Harry recognized the voice at once as that of Hagrid, one of his and Neville's friends from their visits to Hogwarts. "All right there, Harry? Neville?" he inquired when they got close enough. Nodding, they proceeded to follow him as he lead the way towards their first year at Hogwarts – a place they would soon be at home with.


End file.
